Over the years there has not been
much scandal or crime in Ladysmith. However, one of the strangest and still
unsolved mysteries surrounds Arthur James Williams. The legendary “Wizard of
Ladysmith”.

The story starts with the
immigration of a slim, slightly built man emigrating from England at the
end of World War Two. Eventually he settled on Westdowne Road just south of Ladysmith. A
highly intelligent individual he designed an archery bow that bore his name. He
made and sold them all over the world for about 20 years. The business went
bankrupt in 1969.

He was never one of the favourite
characters with local police. His political views were public record. He made
no bones of the fact that the Prime Minister of the time, Pierre Trudeau, was
not his ideal as the leader of our country. In fact he declared a sort of
“economic war” on him when the tax man started checking his returns, or lack of
them.

Over the years he was linked to
the local motorcycle gang and their activities, but the real interest in his
activities had to do with his “BC Institute of Mycology. This foundation was
set up by Williams, with a considerable grant from the Government to do
research on the cultivation of mushrooms. He built a considerable home; a
duplex, barn and many out buildings. The extent of the site was
eventually going to be the strangest part of the whole story.

In 1972 Art Williams came under
the microscope of the US Bureau of Drugs and Narcotics in DetroitMichigan.
They were looking into the illegal manufacture of MDA
(methylenedioxyamphetamine), the drug of choice on the West Coast. They began
by tracking the purchase of one of the key ingredients of this drug. An
associate of Williams, Dale Elliott, had known links to the biker gangs and
through them to the drug trade on the West Coast. When poor batches of MDA
started showing up in Victoria
police started looking for the sources. They never proved anything, but the
biker gangs, Elliott and eventually Williams came under scrutiny. When a large
shipment of Isosaferole (one of the key ingredients) was spotted they traced it
across the border to Williams' Mycological Institute. Thus began one of the
strangest most expensive investigations into Williams and his Institute.

The timing of the shipment was 9
days after the incorporation of The Institute. Williams' name popped up
immediately. The shipment was secretly marked in the hopes that Williams or
Elliott could be caught using it for the manufacture of MDA. At first the investigation
was intermittent due to the pressures of other higher profile investigations.
But eventually it was ramped up to consume thousands of dollars and man hours
over a period of 5 years. During all this time Williams knew he was being
watched. What resulted from this was the construction of the strangest
fortresses in Ladysmith.

Williams had a penchant for
invention. That was proven out by his archery bow. But the police had no idea
of the extent of his talent. For 5 years they watched his property. They bugged
his phone, read his mail and followed his every move. But it took an un-named
informant to close the trap. MDA needed gelatin capsules and the police had
managed to virtually dry up the supply. When the informant approached Williams
with an offer of a supply he was immediately accepted into his confidence. What
Williams did not know was that the capsules were being supplied by the RCMP and
each of them was secretly marked with a special dye.

As well Williams had a pilot's
license and his own plane. The informant led the police to the Delta airport
where he had arranged to meet Elliott and Williams to purchase a shipment of
MDA. The informant paid $4500 of money supplied by the RCMP for the shipment.
The main purpose of their investigation at this point was to find the location
of the laboratory making the MDA. They had a strong suspicion that Williams was
making the MDA, they just did not know where. The phone taps were producing
useful information, but time was running out. It was now time to close the
trap. The informant had left the area and the investigation was at a critical
point.

Charges were prepared against
Williams and Elliott and teams were formed for simultaneous raids on their
property. A third individual, RaymondRidge had been identified,
and he too was involved in the raids. Elliott was not at home in Duncan, and in fact he
eluded capture for a further 18 months. Ridge was arrested had his home in
Ladysmith. By a stroke of luck police found the back door of Williams' duplex
unlocked. Williams, his common-law wife and her two children were asleep.
Williams' estranged wife lived in a log cabin on the same property. When the
police stormed in Williams appeared totally naked and started screaming
obscenities at the officers. He kept up the pace for a whole half hour while
the police searched.

What began then was the strangest
revelation of Williams' operation. The police were already wary of booby traps
as two other suspected laboratories Williams constructed had been destroyed
before they could be examined. They found ramps and staircases with counter
weights and winches. One led by a roof top walkway to a laboratory and 2
bedroom apartment. The doors were 2 ½” thick,
protected by locks which no one had ever seen. If they had not found a weird
looking key they might still be trying to break in! The laboratory they found
was as modern and well equipped as anything of the day. Air and water was
filtered. Heat was thermostatically controlled. Lights had ultra-violet
filters. He even had an electron microscope supposedly valued at $72,000.
Further investigation revealed spring loaded ladders, a narrow shaft led to a
storage area. But no manufacturing facility.

A chance investigation had
revealed the shelves to have double sides. When tugged they swung back to
reveal a solid steel door with two round keyholes. All the time that the place
was being searched the police were on the lookout of bomb booby traps.
Fortunately, none were found, but it made for quite a stressful search. The
locks had to be opened, but all that could be found were a couple of strange
tools that fit the holes. Neither of them would open the door. Finally they
tried turning them both together, and as if by magic the door unlocked. The
door revealed a vertical steel culvert with foot grips driven into the side.
The top had a metal hatch, which when opened led into a 10 foot square concrete
room. The MDA manufacturing facility had finally been found. This room was as
well equipped as the laboratory. But it had some strange features. All the
water, electrical and air ducts led through concealed conduits to the second
floor. In the floor was a 3 foot sump culvert that one could crawl through. It
came out at a dry creek bed some 50 meters away. No drugs were in production,
but police found traces of MDA in water splashing above the sink. The evidence
was conclusive. Now the police had enough evidence to charge the gang.

The investigation had been long,
expensive and painful for many people. Police bugged Williams' shed and
installed the receiver in a neighbor's property. This bug resulted in a raid
and the arrest of 3 youths. Ironically they were arrested on suspicion of
killing Robert Ferguson the uncle of Williams's common law wife. Williams found
the bug, called the neighbor and told him that he had found “his bug”. He
started a campaign of harassment at that point. The campaign of harassment by
Williams caused the neighbor to have to sell the property. The police had never
attempted a bugging before this time and the evidence gathered was of little
use. The youths did however get convicted of Manslaughter. But, with the
discovery of the laboratory and facilities the police finally had enough
evidence to actually charge the gang. With the exception of Elliott who was
still hiding out Williams and Ridge were out on bail in two weeks. Police
virtually destroyed the property looking for evidence.

Now comes
the first twist in the trial against Williams and his associates. Because
Williams had his own plane he flew to and from Vancouver to see his lawyer. He had bought
some property in the South Wellington area in
1972. This was supposed to be the location of his Mycological Foundation. His
neighbors, the Plecas family, recall he was a friendly fellow and chatted about
going into farming. On November 30, 1977 Williams's plane supposedly crashed on
his return with a meeting with his lawyer. Prior to the crash he reported that
he was having trouble. Even though he hated flying at night it was dark and his
reported height was 2500 feet. He had said he would be flying at 1000 feet in
his flight plan. Not only was the trial on his drug business on his mind, but
the tax man was after him as well. He was not certified to fly by instruments
and the plane was known to have trouble with the instrument that shows the
attitude (direction up and down) of the plane. So, when the plane crashed the
inquiry recorded that Williams had died in the crash. Ever since then the world
has speculated that at that height he had parachuted from the plane and set up
the crash. Even though he was a terrible swimmer and hated the water…

Ridge was convicted of
trafficking. He was sentenced to over 5 years, but an appeal and an order for a
new trial on the charge of Conspiracy resulted in him only serving less than a
year.

Elliott was arrested on a boat in
the Lynnwood Marina in 1979. He had grown a beard to disguise his face. He was
in the process of setting up a drug lab in N. Vancouver's
Deep Cove area. In order to protect his girlfriend and drop other charges he led
them to his lab. He might have succeeded with it if his benefactor, Williams,
had not disappeared and stopped the flow of funds. Police locked him up. The
next morning they found Elliott, without a beard. Overnight he had pulled the
beard out hair by hair. When asked why he responded, “I didn't need it
anymore”.

The story does not end here
however. Williams left behind an estranged wife and considerable property. On
March 7, 1979 Margaret Catherine Williams, Art's wife disappeared. Her personal
belongings were still in the house, but there was no sign of her. Several
months later she was declared missing and Lawyer Peter Ramsey was appointed as
curator of the estate. Within 2 years the property was put up for sale. It was
advertised as a virtual fortress with all its concealed doors and tunnels. The
new owners, Ken and Nancy Heal set it up as an attraction and charged admission
for tours. It was a legend in the area and a considerable tourist attraction. A
film crew came up from Hollywood
to do a movie based upon Williams's life as “The Mad Archer of Ladysmith”. The
writers stayed for a very short time living in the house. They could not stay;
they both complained of being “spooked” by the place, Heal had plans to use
this film as the start of a film production company. The house, barn and all
the buildings were to be restored for the film. At the conclusion of filming
the buildings, with the exception of the barn, were to be torn down and a film
studio built in its place. Heal approached the BC Film Board and was laughed
out of the office. The specter of Williams continued to haunt the place.
Strange phone calls from folk claiming to be workers of Williams, who they
claimed was still alive, called at all times of the day and night. Eventually
the Heals separated, Mrs. Heal moved to Nanaimo.
On April 1st, 7:55 in the evening flames were spotted coming from the house.
Two men were spotted leaving with what looked like gasoline cans. Ken Heal said
he left the property at 6:40 pm. Even though the men had been seen by the
firemen no investigation or arrest were made. It seemed the final page had been
written on the place and it seemed that folk were more than glad the whole
thing was done with. The barn and fortress remained. Finally at 11:30 am
Thursday November 19, 1981 the remaining buildings burned to the ground. The
fire had started in two separate areas, so once again arson was suspected. The
neighbors polled were glad it was gone; they were tired of living next to it. A
lot of William's old associates were being released from jail, so once again
speculation was rampant about what actually happened.

But, the mystery remains. Did
Williams arrange his so called death? What happened to Williams's wife? Who
torched the property? Was there treasure to be found on the property (a cache
of over $75,000 had been found by police)? For years the Heals pursued the
legend. But, nobody has come up with an answer.